The Cleveland Browns front office is fully out of touch with the fan base. Let’s not talk about the money for a second; let’s talk about how this franchise has reached new depths that make you think the Hue Jackson era wasn’t all that bad.
Because at least back then, the team’s expectations were in the basement. Now the team is simply underperforming and losing the fan base, seemingly more and more each week. The Browns have struggled when it comes to fixing their never-ending quarterback problems.
But no quarterback problem was as bad as the Deshaun Watson trade. Not only will that move go down as the beginning of the domino effect of the Cleveland Browns, but it will go down as the worst trade across any sports of all time.
Since that trade, the Browns have had to eat a $230 million contract for a quarterback that hasn’t had a healthy season since being re-instated by the NFL. They have their franchise pass rusher demanding a trade because he’s tired of playing for the worst team in the NFL.
And now the front office is counting its pennies and likely discarding Nick Chubb like he’s trash. Within a matter of months, the Browns franchise could lose two of its best modern players and a fan base with it.
The Haslam’s are running Cleveland into the ground
It was bad enough that the Haslams signed off on Watson’s contract. Then they decided to force Cuyahoga County, the county the city of Cleveland is in, to cough up nearly $200 million to build a new stadium roughly 17 miles from where Huntington Bank Field currently stands.
Now it’s on the verge of losing its two franchise cornerstones and through all of this, the Haslam’s haven’t cared one bit about the fan base. Why would the fans continue to support this team?
If the owners don’t care about the fans, why should the fans care about the team? The Browns are a unique team in the sense that the city’s affinity for the team is unmatched. Cleveland loves its Browns.
Now it’s becoming more of a slow breakup than it is a lifelong love. The Haslams have to blame for that because they’re so tone deaf with the fan base, they probably don’t realize how bad things could get.
The Browns deciding Nick Chubb, who might be the most loved Cleveland Brown on this team, isn’t worth bringing back shows how little the team cares about its fans. Yes, the business side of football is taking over. Financially it doesn’t make sense to overpay for Chubb, who just had his second straight season-ending injury.
But who’s to say you couldn’t work something out? I’m not saying you have to pay Chubb like a top five running back. Yet to throw him to the wolves and dust your hands clean is nasty work.
If the Browns really do disregard Chubb, the locker room and the fan base’s wishes to bring him back, it could be the final straw for a fan base that is now scrambling for reasons to cheer on this team.